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Joe Satriani - "Flying ina Blue Dream" (1989- Epic Records)-just so I can hear a REAL guitar master.... My Photographs You like photos? I love taking them. Click here, if you wanna see some of my work
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Sunday, Sept. 07, 2003 - 1:40 p.m. Not that my opinion counts for anything, but the list they put in the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine just tripped my trigger. Why, you might ask? Because it left several of the most innovative and creative guitarists off the list completely, and put some on the list far lower than they deserve. Add to that the unusual choices they had for their top ten, I thought I would use this �journal� to rip them a new one�. Silly? Yeah, I know. Like anyone at this music/entertainment magazine even cares about their choices. Anyway�.It gives me something to write about besides canning salsa and Jay the Puppy� First off- here are Rolling Stone�s picks for the ten �greatest� guitarists of all time: 10. Keith Richards� 9.Jimmy Page� 8.Ry Cooder� 7.Stevie Ray Vaughan� 6.Chuck Berry� 5.Robert Johnson� 4.Eric Clapton� 3.B.B.King� 2.Duane Allman� 1. Jimi Hendrix Hard to argue with many of those, but I there are three that wouldn�t have made my top 50- Ry Cooder (darling of music critics, basically unknown to most music fans), Eric Clapton( wrote and performed some very memorable songs, but also hoisted crap like � Wonderful Tonight� and �Promises� upon the buying public. None of his biggest hits involved much guitar-playing skill, except for �Layla�), and Duane Allman (mostly known for his untimely death at the height of the Allman Brothers Band�s success) Here are my top 17 (I couldn�t leave any of these off of my list, so it became a top17, instead of top 10- so shoot me), in no particular order: Stevie Ray Vaughan Jimmy Page (Led Zepplin) Rick Nielson(Cheap Trick) B.B.King Jimi Hendrix Eddie Van Halen(Van Halen) Stevie Vai Robert Johnson Jeff Beck Les Paul Joe Satriani Joe Perry(Aerosmith) Brian May (Queen) Richard Thompson Vernon Reid (Living Color) Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) The Edge (U2) Of these, only 13 made their list- besides the one in their top 10-, they had Van Halen at 70 (70? With the innovations he brought to lead rock guitar, and his finger work?), Paul(46- and he INVENTED the electric guitar? He played a mean one, too), Perry (48- �The Train Kept a Rollin� � is my all-time favorite rock song), May ( 39 Queen�s first few albums had the disclaimer �No synthesizers were used in the making of this album�, because he did so many wild things with his instrument), Thompson (19- if you haven�t heard any of this British legend�s work, you really need to search it out. �Shoot Out the Lights�, recorded while in the process of divorcing his singer/wife, is a masterpiece), Beck (14- member of the original Yardbirds, and still making challenging music today) Reid (66- and back with his original band mates, after a decade or so of solo work), and The Edge (24- one of the few innovators to come out of the MTV 80�s, he continues to develop as the best guitarist from that era) How can you list 100 , and leave off : Rick Nielson -check out his fingering on the first self-titled album, or live on any of the �Budokon� albums released thought he years) Joe Satriani -�Flying in a Blue Dream� is his finest work, covering all styles of guitar playing on a single album. The song �The Phone Call� even has a little hillbilly swing to it. Stevie Vai- in the same mold as Satriani, he is willing to try anything new with his guitar. Maybe even a little more out there than Satriani, who actually was his former guitar teacher. Mike Campbell- overlooked, mainly due to Tom Petty�s presence in the band, but a master of many guitar techniques. His slide work on �Won�t Back Down� and You Got Lucky� are is as fine as any of the original Blues masters. More complaints? Yes. Starting from highly over rated (and ranked on this list): Kurt Cobain (12)- music critics, get over it- Kurt is dead. No amount of sucking up to him will have any effect on him now. Yes, during the short period of time when he was at his pinnacle, music wise, he wrote and performed some great music. But the 12th best guitarist of all time? No fuckin� way (if you check the list out, notice how dieing in your prime seems to increase your ranking on the list. Stupid way to judge greatness, bit people seem to think that way. Maybe Tupac Shakur should have found his way on here too?) Jack White (17?) (White Stripes)- Yes, I love their three (count them-three) albums. But could easily become the flavor of the week, if he doesn�t progress as a performer. Maybe come up with a new or unique piece of guitar work? Not a slam, just wanna wait to see what he does over the long haul. 17 is way to high for someone so untested. Warren Haynes (23) If you said �Who?�, so did I. Leader of Gov�t Mule, it says. 23rd? I guess I better check out some of his work, because if he is 47 places higher on the list than Eddie Van Halen, he must REALLY be something. Pete Townshend (50) Not a huge fan of the Who, but Townshend is only #50? That doesn�t make much sense, considering how he basically invented the �guitar playing God� persona on stage, with his windmill power chords and guitar smashing (not to overlook his lead work- the beginning notes to �Baba O�Riley�, or his thundering lead on �Won�t Get Fooled Again��maybe I should have included him on my list?) Hubert Sumlin(65), Zoot Horn Rollo (62), Mickey Baker (53), Robert Quine (80), Ali Farka Toure (76), Bert Jansch (94), and Robert Randolf (97)- more �what?��No wonder they couldn�t fit Satriani or Nielson on the list, with all of these �legends� bumping them out. I just clicked on the Rolling Stone web site, so I could link the article about the 100 guitarists list, and it looks like I am not the only one who thinks their list is a joke. They have a page devoted to just reader�s complaints on the selections, and as of this moment, they have had almost 7000 postings from other music fans. Like I said before- looks like the list did what it set out to do- get people arguing about the selections, and mad enough to write to them about it. I just can�t wait until this list is made into a VH1 5-part special. You know that�s what they do with all these lists now days, right? I wonder where they will get their video footage of Ali Farka Toure and Herbert Sumlin?
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